What parents need to know

Positive messages

Despite all of the blood and carnage, the movie's main theme is "never judge a book by its cover," as it turns the old "evil hillbilly" horror movie cliche on its ear. A city girl learns to look past a man's rough exterior and see the kind, decent person he is inside. Characters also attempt to work together to solve problems and resolve conflict.

Positive role models

Dale shows intelligence, kindness, and courage throughout the story, even when his best friend picks on him and talks down to him.

Violence

Lots of horror movie violence, including bashed-in and bloody heads, saw blades to the face, a machete to the throat, a teen stabbed by a branch, a teen chewed up in a wood-chipper, a shovel to the face, nails through the head, gunshot to the face, severed fingers, an explosion, and gallons of blood and gore.

Sex

A teen girl strips down to her underwear to swim. Teens kiss and are definitely thinking about sex. Lots of sexual humor and innuendo.

Teens drink beer and smoke pot while on their "vacation," though this isn't depicted as regular behavior. They also drink while driving. The hillbillies also drink beer, though all drinking stops when the violence starts.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this horror comedy takes one of the genre's most typical cliches and turns it upside down: In this movie, the hillbillies are the good guys, and the college kids who go camping to drink and have sex are the bad guys. Despite this "don't judge a book by its cover" theme, the movie still has tons of gore, blood, and violence, as several teens are (accidentally) killed in gruesome ways. Language is strong, and includes "f--k" and "s--t." Teens are definitely thinking about sex, and there's some sexual innuendo and partial nudity (underwear shots).

User reviews

Parents say

Kids say

What's the story?

Like many horror movies, TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL opens with a carload of college students looking for a good time in the woods; there's also the ominous foreshadowing with the creepy, local hillbillies. But this time, the hillbillies -- Dale (Tyler Labine) and Tucker (Alan Tudyk) -- are good-hearted souls who just want to spend some quality time in their new "vacation home" (i.e. a ramshackle cabin, formerly belonging to a serial killer). After an accident, pretty blond Allison (Katrina Bowden) winds up in Dale's care, but her shallow, short-sighted friends suspect foul play. Before long, grisly deaths start to occur ... but are they random accidents, or is there something more sinister going on?

Is it any good?

QUALITY

Director/co-writer Eli Craig makes his feature debut with a simple, ingenious idea. Why are hillbillies always so nasty and evil in horror movies? What if they're really good folks, and the college students are the awful ones? The movie takes this idea and runs all the way with it, allowing audiences to catch on at their own pace.

Most of the movie's success comes from Labine and Tudyk's lead performances; the actors conjure up an appealing combination of smart, dumb, and sweet, and have a believable friendship. There's also a visceral thrill in the outrageous deaths, each so hilariously implausible that it's shocking. The characters' deadpan reactions to the situation elevate the humor all the more. Although the movie isn't as endlessly engaging as something like Shaun of the Dead, it's still an all-around winner.

Families can talk about...

Families can talk about the movie's violence. Is it realistic, or cartoonish? How does that affect its impact? Why does some movie violence make audiences laugh?

Have you ever judged a book by its cover? Does this movie make you think about that, or is it too humorous to be taken seriously?

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The age displayed for each title is the minimum one for which it's developmentally appropriate. We recently updated all of our reviews to show only this age, rather than the multi-color "slider." Get more information about our ratings.

Shaun Of The Dead For Creepy Hillbillies

Tucker and Dale is a great movie. It's one of those movies like Shaun Of The Dead and Zombieland that are excellant modern dark comedies. And although Tucker and Dale isn't nearly as good as Shaun Of The Dead, it is still pretty damn entertaining. Most of the humor comes from the exaggerated deaths, and the cluelessness of the college kids. I have to admit, from that description, it's probably as funny as it possibly could be. The actors all do a good job, the script is hilarious, and it's tone gleefully dark. There are a few flaws, however. The script, while funny, will inevitably be compared to the likes of Shaun Of The Dead, but it just does not compare. Also, the plot feels stretched even for an 80 minute film and it would've worked much better as a short film at maybe 30-40 minutes long. This leads to a final battle of sorts that felt shoehorned in to add an extra fifteen minutes to the movie. As for inappropriate stuff, there is a ton of gore, but it's all comical. Lots of death like impaling yourself in a tree limb, falling onto a spear, jumping headfirst into a woodchipper, there's a lot. The main female lead is highly sexualized at first, but as the movie goes on, you find out that she actually has a personality, unlike most horror victims and the rest of the college kids in the movie. There is also a lot of the "F" word, but, like "The Thing," it's often overshadowed by the violence and gore. But overall, this is a hilarious movie that has deserved it's cult status.

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